untitled
by une boheme
Summary: Hi all! my first posted rentfic. it takes place post-rent, and collins has moved back in with the boys, one night he brings someone home with him. PLEASE r/r. Yes, I do know where this is going. Will update soon.
1. Who's This?

Image Author's Note: Hey look, everybody! It's a rentfic! Original character alert. PLEASE r/r. My first posted fic. I want all sorts of reviews--questions, comments, criticism, undying praise, eternal condemnation, death threats, marriage proposals.... 

Chapter One: Who's This? 

Mark woke to faint giggles. Was that...was that _Collins?_ Who was with him? 

He got out of bed and crept to the door of his room, open. Collins crept by it to an empty den, followed by a tall, slim young man with dark hair. Mark grinned and went back to bed. 18 months after Angel's death. Collins had bounced back. 

In the morning, Mark wandered in to the kitchen to find Collins and the dark-haired man sitting at the table staring at each other over coffee. 

"Hi," he said, and poured a cup for himself. When Roger found his way in, he did a double take. 

"Whoa, who're you?" Collins winked at the man opposite him. 

"This is Julian. Been seeing him for a while. Brought him home last night." 

"Didn't you hear?" Mark quipped. _"Woke *me_ up." Julian raised his eyebrows and looked alarmed and Collins laughed. 

"Forgot to warn you," he said between chuckles. "One of my roommates is a light...a _very_ light sleeper." "We haven't been properly introduced," Mark said. "I'm Mark. The guy standing gaping over there's Roger." Julian smiled shyly. 

"He knows," Collins said. "Told him all about you, I did." Then Mimi popped her head in the door. 

"Can I borrow Roger?...hey! Collins! Who's this! Introduce me!" 

"Julian, this is Mimi. Mimi, this is Julian." Collins bent forward and took Julian's hand. Mimi grabbed Roger and ducked out the door. Mark's laughter followed them. 

Later that day, Mark was fiddling with some light angles and Roger, having come back from wherever Mimi'd spirited him away to, was tuning his guitar. It wasn't long before they heard bluesy strains from a string instrument creeping out from another room. 

"Whoa," Roger murmured, when the skill of the performer became apparent. He and Mark precipitated themselves into the spare room. 

Julian, clad in black, had a fiddle tucked beneath his chin. When he saw he had an audience, an audience with a *camera*, no less, he blushed and hurriedly put away the instrument, hiding his face in his hands. 

"He's shy," came Collins' voice from the doorway. "But he's very good. Hey Julian, show them your juggling!" 

Julian picked up a few small objects off the table beside him, and fingered them. Then he looked up and once again saw the camera. He pointed one long, white finger at Mark, and said, in a voice almost inaudible, 

"Is that thing on?" 

"It's always on," Mark murmured, bringing it up to his eyes. 

"You'll get used to it," Collins assured Julian. "Just ignore him. That's just how he is. He hides in it." Mark winced. "It's his work. It's how he is. You'll get used to it," Collins repeated. Julian nodded and began tossing the objects in the air. Soon he had about eight of them spinning in the air, and then he began to move. He performed and intricate dance with the flying objects, moving around Collins and Mark and Roger. Enjoying himself. Mark stared through his lens at the remarkable man before him, and knew he had found something special. 

Note: Wow--it's not angsty! Not yet, anyway. We'll see. 


	2. Can We Do That Take Once More?

no title  Disclaimer: forgot to have one of these before. I don't own 'em. Well, I own Julian. You can use him if you want to. Just tell me first, please. Archive: forgot this too. Yah, totally! Please let me know. (PS archive means peeps can steal it for their own sites, right? I'm kinda new to this.) A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews, mes amis! Jonai: yah, he's a mary sue. I admit it. I have this thing about the name Julian: my Julian characters are all vunderful. Well, anyway, I'll try to accomodate and maybe make him a little less...well, perfect (in future chapters, not this one)...I just wanted at least a semi-happy rentfic for once. One that wasn't humor. PLEASE REVIEW MORE! These guys are so f***ing hard to write!!!!!!!! Anyway, somebody please give me advice, as I have not _technically_ seen Rent, just listened to it and read the script. Hopefully I will see it soon, and I'm getting a bootleg video.....well, enough rambling from me. On with the fic! Oh, and please forgive formatting errors. 

Chapter Two: Where Have You Been?

Mark had disappeared. Oh, they all knew where he was: holed up in his room with his camera and his typewriter. It was just that no one ever saw him. He emerged sometimes, for coffee, or a shower, or a change of clothes. Sometimes, when he came out, he grinned from ear to ear. Sometimes he was crying. Sometimes both. 

It was nearly a week later when he finally appeared. He was frantic. 

"Everyone get in the kitchen! Stay there!" Julian blinked at the yelling, rushing Mark. "Where's the phone? Where's the damn phone!? Gotta get Mimi and Maureen and Joanne.... _I said get in the kitchen_, didn't you _hear_ me? Hey!" 

He finally herded everyone into the kitchen, including the three women. Everyone but Mark sat at the table. Julian, who had moved in during Mark's disappearance, still blinked at the filmmaker, who had become a fountain of energy. 

Mark produced, like a magician, six bundles of paper. 

"It's a screenplay. Read it. You're the stars." And he ran over to the counter, poured himself yet another cup of coffee, and commenced biting his nails in apprehension. No one touched the scripts that sat before each of them. 

Julian, for once, spoke up, albeit quietly. 

"Mark. You've lived on caffeine and dreams lately. Where have you been?" 

"I've been creating! Just read it already! Oh, I'm going nuts. Hurry up!" He sat there and bit his nails while the others read. Collins absently threw him a box of Rice Krispies, which he munched on while he waited. 

Joanne was the first to speak. 

"Mark. Wow." 

Maureen was angry. It was very good. It had a vision behind it. But the sonofabitch had turned her into a...a sort of evil seductress! 

She liked what he'd done with Julain's character though...that boy was so fucking perfect...hard to deal with. She liked Mark's silent mime interpretation of him. 

"Is this how you really see us?" she asked. 

"Oh, God no!" Mark exclaimed. "Of course not! Look, everybody, lemme say something...just because the characters you play might share some..._attributes_ ...with each of you, that doesn't mean I made you into the characters! God no!" 

A smile was spreading over Julian's face. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again, and pressed his body against Collins'. He whispered something in the other man's ear. 

"We'll do it," Collins said decisively, standing up. "No arguments, no buts. This is good shit, Mark. And we're doing it." He threw his script down on the table and his eyes dared the others to contest him. 

Later that day, Mark was bursting with jubilance. He couldn't believe everyone had agreed to do the film. Even Maureen! He turned away from his camera for a moment to find Julian lurking behind him. 

"Don't do that!" Mark said. "God, Julian, watch who you sneak up on! You scared the shit out of me!" Julian grimaced apologetically. "What did you want?" 

"Um." Julian's voice was almost inaudible. "I...Mark, I...can you find someone else to play my part?" 

"Are you nuts? No way! You agreed! I can't do it without you. I _won't_ do it without you. I wrote the damn thing for you! And I won't let you skip out, just because you're camera-shy!" 


End file.
